Human hair and the scalp can be cleansed using cosmetic cleansing products (hair shampoos), and said cleansing products can also be used to remove sebum, styling product residues and other soiling from the hair and scalp.
Due to the surfactants (mostly anionic) usually contained in cosmetic hair cleansing products, hair cleansing is always accompanied by a removal of lipids and proteins from the hair or scalp, whereby, in particular in the event of frequent cleansing, the hair structure can become damaged and/or the scalp can become dry. Damage to the hair structure or the hair fibres, in particular split ends and/or breakage, can also be intensified by ambient conditions (for example intense solar radiation), mechanical stresses (such as combing whilst blow-drying), and by chemical influences (such as dyeing, shaping or smoothing the hair).
In order to prevent and/or reduce hair damage, oil-based care substances, usually silicones, were often added to hair shampoos in the past.
The use of silicones in hair cleansing products, however, is the subject of controversy and has disadvantages, because silicones, by wetting the hair surface, reduce the penetration of active substances and auxiliaries into the hair and make it more difficult to style the hair.
In addition, for reasons of sustainability, it is sought to use the maximum proportion possible of biologically degradable active substances in cosmetic products. The provision of low-silicone or silicone-free stable, nourishing hair cleansing products is therefore a relevant task in the field of hair cosmetics.
In the prior art, the group of linear paraffins has been discussed as one of many active substance classes suitable for substitution of silicones. For example, patent application WO 2010/115973A1 (to Biosynthis) describes cosmetic compositions which contain mixtures of linear C8-C12 alkanes and C14-C24 alkanes besides further constituents. These compositions, however, also have a series of disadvantages and, in spite of previous achievements, there is still a need for low-silicone or silicone-free hair cleansing products based on volatile “light emollients”.